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Saturday, April 16, 2016

The largest-ever study into the health benefits of active transportation has confirmed what most of us could easily have guessed: those who walk and bike to work have lower levels of body fat than those who drive or take public transit. While the study results are unsurprising to say the least, it is interesting to note that the lower levels of fat linked to active commuting were independent of other social factors such as socioeconomic status, alcohol consumption, smoking, or whether the person lives in a rural or urban area.

The study, carried out at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, used observational data from over 150,000 individuals taken from the UK Biobank data set, between the ages of 40-69 years. Body fat was assessed in two ways: body mass index (BMI), which is a ratio of weight to height, and body fat percentage. Across the board, people who always or occasionally commuted actively were observed as having lower levels of body fat than those who never did.

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I came across an interesting film the other day. It was linked from Sidetracked, a beautiful, outdoors lifestyle-y type magazine. The kind you buy in a bookshop rather than a newsagent, full of long-form journalism and photo essays, not product reviews and top 10 lists.

The video was of one woman, Lael Wilcox, talking about her experience cycling the Arizona Trail. She was racing, trying to get the best time, but on her own in a self-supported attempt.

It stood out because it was the first time I’ve found myself getting excited by cycling for a while. Something about the braveness of it, the risk, the crazy, epic mental-ness. Watch: it’s short and wonderful.

I’ve always liked cycling. Over the years, some of my favourite moments have been spent on a bike: going the distance, getting lost, finding myself in unexpected and beautiful places.